Platonic Knowledge and the Standard Analysis

Abstract

In this paper I explore Plato’s reasons for his rejection of the so‐called standard analysis of knowledge as justified true belief. I argue that Plato held that knowledge is an infallible mental state in which (a) the knowable is present in the knower and (b) the knower is aware of this presence. Accordingly, knowledge (epistēmē) is non‐propositional. Since there are no infallible belief states, the standard analysis, which assumes that knowledge is a type of belief, cannot be correct. In addition, I argue that Plato held that belief (doxa) is only possible for the sort of being capable of knowledge. This is because self‐reflexivity is necessary for infallible knowledge and self‐reflexivity is only possible if the intellect is immaterial. This capacity for self‐reflexivity is also essential for belief, since beliefs are, paradigmatically, not dispositions but self‐reflexive mental states.     

Humiliation and the Cultural and Relational Structuring of Hysteria: Reply to Commentaries

In this reply to the discussions by Muriel Dimen and Richard Lasky of “Hysteria and Humiliation” I emphasize how historical theoretical conceptualizations of hysteria have always been informed by derogatory attitudes. I concur with Dimen's view that power is always invoked in gender and race relations and that these inevitably find their way into the clinical. I disagree with Lasky's view that the hysteric can be understood primarily through the operation of “autonomous mental events” and that too great a reliance on this concept obscures the role of cultural and developmental experiences of humiliation in the origins and maintenance of hysteric phenomena.     

Hysteria and Humiliation

The phenomena of hysteria are first considered from a historical perspective that emphasizes the role of domination and power relations between the sexes. This permits an examination of the dynamics and impact of humiliation in interpersonal relations on the formation of hysteric symptomatology. Humiliation is viewed as having a powerful deleterious effect on the development of the capacity to think and feel in a coherent and meaningful manner. The relationship between humiliation and hysteria is explored theoretically and illustrated with clinical material that emphasizes developmental dynamics through which relationally based injuries fracture the ability to know and communicate one's experience.     

The World of Mad Men: Power,Surface and Passion

Mad Men is disturbing to post-millennium viewers, particularly those of a “certain” age, on three counts. First, it invokes a particular historical context of gender oppression; second it captures the prevailing post-War injunction that emotional distress is unseemly and distasteful; and third, it captures the zeitgeist's celebration of surface over substance in relationship. However, just as disturbing as these historically situated interpersonal premises is the niggling question that each relationship pairing and each episode leaves with the viewer. To wit: How much of the disconnection and the unrequited longings are reflective of a particular historical era, and to what degree do they reflect timeless aspects of character and relationship? Thus Mad Men provides an exquisitely rendered sociocultural tableau in which the viewer struggles, however articulated or not, with one of the essential knots of psychoanalytic as well as couples treatment: the complicated interpenetration of culture and character, of time and timelessness.     

Translating visual information into action predictions: Statistical learning in action and nonaction contexts

Humans are sensitive to the statistical regularities in action sequences carried out by others. In the present eyetracking study, we investigated whether this sensitivity can support the prediction of upcoming actions when observing unfamiliar action sequences. In two between-subjects conditions, we examined whether observers would be more sensitive to statistical regularities in sequences performed by a human agent versus self-propelled ‘ghost’ events. Secondly, we investigated whether regularities are learned better when they are associated with contingent effects. Both implicit and explicit measures of learning were compared between agent and ghost conditions. Implicit learning was measured via predictive eye movements to upcoming actions or events, and explicit learning was measured via both uninstructed reproduction of the action sequences and verbal reports of the regularities. The findings revealed that participants, regardless of condition, readily learned the regularities and made correct predictive eye movements to upcoming events during online observation. However, different patterns of explicit-learning outcomes emerged following observation: Participants were most likely to re-create the sequence regularities and to verbally report them when they had observed an actor create a contingent effect. These results suggest that the shift from implicit predictions to explicit knowledge of what has been learned is facilitated when observers perceive another agent’s actions and when these actions cause effects. These findings are discussed with respect to the potential role of the motor system in modulating how statistical regularities are learned and used to modify behavior.     

In Between States: NationalIdentity Practices Among German Jewish Immigrants

Recent critiques of the identity literature have bemoaned the lack of clarity in conceptualizations of identity. R. W. Connell's (1987) theory of practice and Dorothy Smith's (1987, pp. 88–97) notion of "the everyday as problematic" provide the foundation for articulating the construct of identity practices. Identity practices refer to the routine actions and ways of thinking, as well as the representations of those acts and thoughts, that enable people to claim collective identities. Although identity practices mark group membership, they also signal marginality to or exclusion from other groups. This paper explores the importance of understanding identity practices at micro levels of interaction as well as macro-level structures and dominant culture narratives. The specific empirical focus—on German Jewish immigrants who fled Nazi Germany and arrived in the United States by 1945—enables an interrogation of the meanings associated with national identity practices.     

Screening for and Preventing Perinatal Depression

New York City (NYC) public hospitals recently mandated that all pregnant women be screened for depression, but no funds were allocated for screening or care coordination/treatment, and research suggests that unfunded mandates are not likely to be successful. To address this, we implemented an on-site depression prevention intervention (NYC ROSE) for positive depression screens among pregnant, mostly Black and Hispanic, lower-income women in one public hospital. In this paper, we used Aarons’ implementation model to describe the successes and challenges of screening and intervention. Patient tracking sheets and electronic medical records were abstracted. Key informant interviews and an informal focus group were conducted, and staff observations were reviewed; common implementation themes were identified and fit into Aarons’ model. We found that a lack of funding and staff training, which led to minimal psychoeducation for patients, were outer context factors that may have made depression screening difficult, screening results unreliable, and NYC ROSE enrollment challenging. Although leadership agreed to implement NYC ROSE, early involvement of all levels of staff and patients would have better informed important inner context factors, like workflow and logistical/practical challenges. There was also a mismatch between the treatment model and the population being served; patients often lived too far away to receive additional services on site, and economic issues were often a higher priority than mental health services. Screening and interventions for perinatal depression are essential for optimal family health, and a detailed, thoughtful and funded approach can help ensure effectiveness of such efforts.